The two divine courses were encased by the gods in a sphere which
is called the head, and is the god and lord of us. And to this
they gave the body to be a vehicle, and the members to be
instruments, having the power of flexion and extension. Such was
the origin of legs and arms. In the next place, the gods gave a
forward motion to the human body, because the front part of man
was the more honourable and had authority. And they put in a face
in which they inserted organs to minister in all things to the
providence of the soul. They first contrived the eyes, into which
they conveyed a light akin to the light of day, making it flow
through the pupils. When the light of the eye is surrounded by
the light of day, then like falls upon like, and they unite and
form one body which conveys to the soul the motions of visible
objects. But when the visual ray goes forth into the darkness,
then unlike falls upon unlike—the eye no longer sees, and we go
to sleep. The fire or light, when kept in by the eyelids,
equalizes the inward motions, and there is rest accompanied by
few dreams; only when the greater motions remain they engender in
us corresponding visions of the night. And now we shall be able
to understand the nature of reflections in mirrors. The fires
from within and from without meet about the smooth and bright
surface of the mirror; and because they meet in a manner contrary
to the usual mode, the right and left sides of the object are
transposed. In a concave mirror the top and bottom are inverted,
but this is no transposition.